Historic Route 66 - Lucille's Place - Hydro, Oklahoma, USA. - National Scenic Byways on Waymarking.com

A lonely, smallish building by today's standards. The historical marker mentioned in a previous trip is still there. So interesting to imagine it being a popular, busy place back in its heyday. Plenty of room to park. - See more at: (visit link)


"Lucille's Service Station, a classic and historic gas station along Route 66 near Hydro, is one of only two upper-story, out-thrust porch style stations left on Oklahoma's stretch of Route 66. Built in 1929 by Carl Ditmore, the service station was renamed by Provine Station in the 1930s. In 1941, the Hamons family took over the operation of the station and Lucille Hamons, for which the service station is named, ran the business for 60 years. Lucille, who quickly became known for her friendly assistance to motorists, earned the nickname "Mother of the Mother Road." Text Source: (visit link)

"The Provine Service Station - Located a half-mile south of Hydro, Oklahoma and operated by Lucille Hamons from 1941 until her death on August 18, 2000, the site was added to the US National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Lucille Hamons' generous assistance to motorists on U.S. Route 66 during hard economic times at the end of the Great Depression would make her a US Route 66 legend, earning the nickname "Mother of the Mother Road."

History:
Opened by Carl Ditmore in 1929, this is one of the few remaining examples of a two-story fuel station with the owner's residence situated above the pumps on an upper floor. W.O. & Ida Waldroup changed the name to Provine Service Station after buying the station in 1934 and would later add tourist cabins to provide five motel rooms on-site.

Lucille and Carl Hamons acquired the Provine Station in 1941, a few months before the US entry into World War II. Mobilisation for war brought wartime rationing of fuel and tires, causing civilian traffic on the highway to decline.[3] Carl Hamons worked as an independent trucker, leaving Lucille to operate the station and the motel.[4] Traffic on US 66 would then increase substantially during the 1950s and 1960s, only to vanish with the completion of Interstate 40 in the area in 1971." Text Source: (visit link)

"After Carl got a truck to earn more money, I was alone here to run this place. During this time, people from Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and eastern Oklahoma were travelling the road to the West Coast to find jobs.... Many times I would have people stop that were completely broke, and I would feed them and give them gas in exchange for some appliance or other articles of value they might have. Sometimes I would just buy their old broke-down cars, and then they would catch the bus and head on west looking for work." —?Lucille Hamons

Program: America's Byways Website: [Web Link] Official Name: Historic Route 66

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